Ghost Town (I) (2008)

Bertram Pincus is a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts.

Director:

David Koepp

Writers:

David Koepp, John Kamps

Stars:

Greg Kinnear, Jordan Carlos, Ricky Gervais

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Greg Kinnear	...	Frank
Jordan Carlos	...	Young Husband
Dequina Moore	...	Young Wife
Joseph Badalucco Jr.	...	Accident Bystander (as Joe Badalucco)
Brian Hutchison	...	Accident Bystander
Tyree Michael Simpson	...	Sneezy Cop (as Tyre Simpson)
Julia Murney	...	Sneezy Lady
Ricky Gervais	...	Pincus
Claire Lautier	...	Upper East Side Lady
Aasif Mandvi	...	Dr. Prashar
Bridget Moloney	...	Receptionist
Raymond J. Lee	...	Greenpeace Guy (as Raymond Lee)
Joey Mazzarino	...	Food Delivery Guy
Brad Oscar	...	Day Doorman
Kathleen Landis	...	Resident

Storyline

Bertram Pincus is a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts. Even worse, they all want something from him, particularly Frank Herlihy who pesters him into breaking up the impending marriage of his widow Gwen. That puts Pincus squarely in the middle of a triangle with spirited result.

---

Plot Keywords:

ghost | window air conditioner | museum | egyptian mummy | new york city | 

---

Taglines:

Dr. Bertram Pincus can see you now...

---

Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some strong language, sexual humor and drug references

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks [fr] DreamWorks [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

La ville fantôme

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£786,690 (UK) (31 October 2008)

Gross:

£6,370,608 (UK) (28 November 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Spyglass Entertainment, Pariah

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The New York Times crossword puzzle seen within the first 10 minutes when Dr. Pincus (Ricky Gervais) first comes home is the puzzle from Monday, October 1, 2007 (Created by Allan E. Parrish).

---

Goofs

When the close-up of the label is shown on the laxative agent Dr. Pincus is supposed to take, it shows the directions as: TAKE 1 TABLET DAILY WITH 8 OZ GLASS OF WATER, when it is a liquid solution. Also, it shows that the Colyte solution is 100mg per dose and that there are qty 50 doses, which if this were truely Colyte, one dose is 240 grams per 1 bottle which is 4000 ml. If you do the math, even if it was 100 mg per dose and he had 50 doses, that would be the equivilent of almost 21 bottles of the 240 gram solution. So he would have almost a full 21 4000ml bottles sitting in front of him instead of just 3.

---

Quotes

Bertram Pincus: [seeing Pepe's mummified penis in a jar] Woah! Well, I can see why he was King!
[Gwen laughs]
Bertram Pincus: No, really!
[Gwen laughs]
Bertram Pincus: Well, I can see he died happy...
Gwen: [laughs even harder] Okay, that's enough!
[closes jar]
Bertram Pincus: He must've had huge hands...
Gwen: No, no...

---

Crazy Credits

Directly after the end titles fade to black, there is a brief outburst of near-hysterical laughter.

---

Connections

Referenced in Comic Relief 2009 (2009)

---

Soundtracks

"Please Be Patient With Me"
Written by Jeff Tweedy
Performed by Wilco
Courtesy of Nonesuch Records
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

See it in the Theatre. It's Worth It!

The story: A dentist, played by Ricky Gervais, is sick of dealing with people. Not just a few people; everyone. Social niceties annoy him and "just being friendly" is out of the question. But this doesn't prevent annoying chatter from following him to his dental practice or even to the hospital where he must undergo his first colonoscopy. While the doctors roll him down a corridor on a gurney, chatting about frivolous nonsense, he interrupts and insists on full anesthesia for the examination.

The Problem: Once back on the street, he realizes he can see people that others cannot. He returns to the hospital and asks the doctor if anything unusual happened during the procedure. The doctor's reticence does not deter him from wrenching the truth from her that, technically speaking, he was dead for "almost 7 minutes". As a result, he can now see ghosts. And of course, they all want something from him.

The "something" that one particular ghost, Frank (Greg Kinnear), wants is for him to intervene in the romance of Frank's widow. At first reluctant to take on the task, he finally is blackmailed into to trying to break up her relationship and soon, he begins to enjoy the challenge.

The film rises above the hackneyed "invisible man" jokes and plays out as a fresh comedy romance. Not fresh on plot, admittedly, but on Gervais' style. True, it's the same character he always plays, but seeing it long-form and with the love interest,it's satisfying. The romance in the plot calls for a performance that offers more than a tortured look or a snarky comment - and Gervais delivers.

There are no weepy "But I love you" scenes. There are touching moments, however, that are more akin to "classic" Hollywood, rather than the big-budget, ruin-the-characters, 4th-installment, CGI festivals that are the hallmark of Tinseltown these days. Worth seeing. Our packed-house audience laughed out loud and applauded the ending.